And... happy Monday to you, too! Ugh. We hate opening the week with news like this, but we want to make sure you're aware: last week Cargill Beef Solutions announced a recall of 30,000 pounds of ground beef from a Pennsylvania plant because of possible contamination with Salmonella Enteritidis.
According to NPR, the beef was sold to wholesalers in packages labeled "Grnd Beef Fine 85/15" for further processing. Even if stores took the meat and repackaged it in different containers for their customers, contaminated packages should still bear the establishment number "EST. 9400," and a use-by date of May 25. (Check your freezer!) So far investigators are looking at 33 sick patients on the East Coast, primarily in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
Does this all sound very familiar? That's because last year Cargill recalled 36 million pounds of ground turkey (yes, million) because of Salmonella contamination, followed by 185,000 pounds a month later. But as NPR notes, it's not just food recalls that have increased:
Recalls on all consumer products, including drugs, medical devices, and food, increased 14 percent between 2007 and 2010, according to data from the Department of Agriculture and the Consumer Product Safety Commission. USA Today reported last month that there were 1,460 recalls in 2007. By 2010, that number jumped to 2,081. Last year, consumers were hit with 2,363 recalls - or about 6.5 a day.
Unfortunately, this shouldn't be something we ever have to worry about, but to stay on top of the recall situation, you can go to www.recalls.gov. You can also sign up for FSIS' Twitter alerts by location. (Scroll to the bottom of that page and click on your state to sign up.)
Read More: Cargill Warns Of Salmonella-Tainted Ground Beef In Latest Recall at NPR
Related: Food Safety 101: How to Defrost Frozen Meat
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If you're worried about this showing up in your hamburgers and aren't sure enough to toss out all that meat, just cook the hamburger to an internal temperature of 160 degrees.
I never cook medium burgers unless I grind the meat myself from larger cuts. There's much less chance of contamination that way.
....or, don't eat animals...
Because only animals are contaminated? Let us not forget the giant spinach recall...
Best idea, buy local and not mass produced.
or (if you have the option) don't buy factory farmed (CAFO) meat.. Buying local, grass fed meat minimizes these risks, and not to mention it's healthier and more ethical.
Furthermore, you won't be getting meat from a hundred or so different cows in one pound of ground meat (providing it's pre-ground at a large scale processing plant).
Yet I've never seen a food warning for pregnant women on ground meats. No soft cheese or sprouts, but eat as many hamburgers as you want. Idiotic.
@Ta: Salad bags recalls don't ring a bell, eh?
I don't ever buy ground meat unless it is ground in-store or directly from a farmer. And no loose salad bags.
LOL@Ta, your ignorance is pretty humorous. Do you buy bagged spinach while feeling so superior?
Food recalls affect all kinds of food - meat, veggie, nut... In fact, I think most food recalls here in Canada are of vegetables.
However, most food related deaths (that aren't due to an allergic reaction) are due to meat contamination.
So while less common, contaminated meat seems to be more serious than vegetables.
@ilovekefir it is more healthy yes, but not more ethical.